The Bone Bed
The Bone Bed
Patricia Cornwell
With more than 30 books to her name, US author Patricia Cornwell has no need to prove that she’s one of the top crime thriller writers around, yet she continues to keep up her game with her 20th Kay Scarpetta novel, The Bone Bed.
Chief medical examiner Scarpetta finds herself torn between a court case, for which she has been called as a defence witness, and the urgent analysis of a woman’s body found tangled underwater with a leatherback turtle.
These become the least of Scarpetta’s worries after she receives an email featuring horrific video footage, which somehow is connected to the case of a missing palaeontologist in Canada.
Scarpetta has a race against time to discover the cunning and cruel killer. But how long before they strike again?
Readers familiar with Cornwell will realise that her modus operandi is to build up the story gradually over the chapters, leaving readers on tenterhooks, before its climactic crescendo.
Little, Brown, hardback £18.99
A Question Of Identity
Susan Hill
Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler is back on the bookshelves in Susan Hill’s seventh instalment of the Serrailler crime series. The small cathedral town of Lafferton is once again rocked by a spate of murders.
The targets of these horrific crimes are old women, which takes us back to Alan Keys - a suspect who 10 years ago was charged and tried for several murders in Yorkshire but acquitted on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Enquiries suggest that this person has simply vanished.
Meanwhile, we also get an insight into Serrailler’s family, with his father’s behaviour taking a turn for the worse, and his sister, Cat Deerbon, fighting to stop the closure of the local hospice.
And Rachel, the love of his life, is showing pangs of guilt about their relationship.
A lot of pages are dedicated to the personal lives of Cat and Simon which, unfortunately, leaves little room for what would have been an intriguing murder mystery.
Chatto & Windus, hardback £16.99
Christmas At The Cupcake Cafe
Jenny Colgan
Christmas At The Cupcake Cafe is best-selling author Jenny Colgan’s 13th novel.
In the festive follow-up to Meet Me At The Cupcake Cafe, we get reacquainted with Issy and Austin.
The cafe is going strong and Christmas is approaching, but change is beckoning for the young couple.
Austin is in New York, home of the cupcake, and Issy is still in London, baking and organising for the festive period.
Darny, Austin’s younger brother, runs into trouble at school and a life-change opportunity presents itself.
A well-balanced, feel-good book, it’s the perfect accompaniment to a slice of cake and a hot chocolate on a gloomy afternoon.
Sphere, hardback £12.99
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